Rep. Salud Carbajal receives his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 350 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, increasing the county’s total to 14,738 cases. Only 16 cases were recorded Saturday. No deaths were recorded over the weekend.
The news comes as frontline health workers and public officials get their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, received his first dose Saturday, according to a post on his Twitter profile.
“I’m not more deserving of the vaccine than anyone else, but I want to lead by example & show others that the vaccine is safe, painless, & effective,” he said in a tweet.
He is in Washington D.C. ahead of the holidays, working on a COVID-19 relief package that seeks swifter distribution of the vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Moderna for emergency use Friday. Distribution is expected this week.
Of the new cases, 116 are located in the city of Santa Maria. The city has reported a total of 5,619 confirmed cases, of which 338 are still infectious.
The city of Santa Barbara is second, with 51 new cases. Its total is 2,203 cases with 219 infectious.
A total of 30 cases were confirmed in the City of Lompoc, bringing its total to 1,573 cases. Of those, 129 are still infectious.
Both the community of Orcutt and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota found 21 cases. Orcutt has a total of 701 cases, with 53 active. The Goleta Valley and Gaviota has 423 total cases and 54 still infectious.
The city of Goleta reported 18 cases (568 total, 78 active). The south county area of Montecito, Summerland and the City of Carpinteria also had 18 cases (417 total, 38 active).
The community of Isla Vista confirmed 17 cases (623 total, 32 active). The Santa Ynez Valley, including the Cities of Solvang & Buellton, and the communities of Santa Ynez, Los Alamos, Los Olivos and Ballard, also reported 17 cases (343 total, 39 active).
The unincorporated area of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and the City of Guadalupe reported 12 cases (619 total, 38 active).
The federal prison in Lompoc did not find any cases. A total of 29 cases have not yet been located.
The age bracket with the most cases is those ages 30-49, with 117 cases. Those 18-29 comprised 91 of the cases.
A total of 86 cases were found in 50-69 year olds. There were 32 cases in those 0-17, and 24 cases in those over 70.
Cases have been confirmed in 765 health care workers.
Santa Barbara County has 35.1% of ICU beds available.
email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
